Warby Parker is quietly ending its free Home Try-On program

After 15 years, Warby Parker’s signature Home Try-On program will soon be kaput. The eyewear giant is discontinuing the try-before-you-buy service that made it famous at the end of 2025 as it expands its brick-and-mortar presence and leans into virtual tools, it announced on a quarterly earnings call this month.

Since Warby Parker’s inception in 2010, shoppers have been able to order up to five frames to try on at home for five days. The process, which was completely free (including shipping and returns), made it easier to buy glasses online.

In its 2021 IPO, Warby Parker said Home Try-On was “very unique to our business. It is a viral brand awareness program that pays for itself as we maintain an exceptionally high conversion rate from Home Try-On purchases.”

Now, Warby Parker is phasing out the program in favor of in-person and digital experiences. The company cut the ribbon on its 300th store in July and plans to open “shop-in-shops” at five Target locations in the second half of 2025, with more in the works for 2026.

“The vast majority of recent home try-on customers live within 30 minutes of a Warby Parker store,” said co-founder and co-CEO Neil Blumenthal on the earnings call. “As we’ve scaled and Home Try-On has become a less meaningful driver of our e-commerce business, and as we have seen strong growth from customers directly purchasing glasses online and in our stores, we’ve decided to sunset the program at the end of this year.”

For customers who don’t want to venture out, Warby Parker offers a Virtual Try-On feature online and recently launched an AI-powered shopping assistant called “Advisor” in its iOS app. The latter is seeing “very strong adoption in terms of engagement and sales,” leading to less of a need for Home-Try On, said outgoing CFO Steve Miller on the call.

I’m a previous Warby Parker customer and Home Try-On user, and I haven’t received any communication from the brand about the program ending — nor has it been posted on Warby Parker’s website or social media accounts. Warby Parker’s Home Try-On program was still available at the time of writing, though only 91 of its 296 styles were eligible.

Warby Parker is the second retailer to scrap a home try-on program this year. In January, Amazon ended its “Try Before You Buy” perk for Prime members, which included clothes, shoes, and accessories, citing its limited scope and a rise in shoppers’ use of virtual tools.

UPDATE: Aug. 15, 2025, 9:15 a.m. EDT When reached for comment, a rep for Warby Parker referred Mashable to a transcript of its Q2 earnings call. This story has been updated with additional context from that call.